Just a quick report on Maunawili Trail conditions on 4/29/07. Some recent rain requires technical footwork for the first 6 miles out to Waimanalo. The pigs are causing some damage, few slides creating caution between 4-6 miles out and same trees down from before. The trail is very dry around mile 7 out with one slide from 10/15 still there but easy and one large tree down around mile 8 out. The trail is very clear overall, and very little difference in my time for the out and back. Nice trail for a solid 22 mile run without walks.

The next race in the 2007 H.U.R.T. Trail Series is coming up on May 12th. The Run with A View race is 8 miles of fun. In typical H.U.R.T. style, the course is 4 miles uphill and the second half, all downhill.

The race starts at the neighborhood park (on the left) at the corner of
Kaahele St. and Naalii St., goes 1/2 mile up Kaahele St. to the
trailhead and makes a 7 mile clockwise loop on trails before returning
back down Kaahele St. to the park. It is 8 miles total. Cheryl will be
stationed at the only aid station at the 3.5 mile mark, so plan to
bring a water bottle, as you may need it. The race starts at 7:00 am,
so please be there to check in by 6:30 am with your $10 entry
fee. Awards will be given to the first 10 men and to the first 10 women
finishers and there will be soda, water, gatorade and food at the
finish. Fun for all ! We also have a limited supply of nice, new
Patagonia/HURT Trail Series shirts for $20 each.

Driving directions: If you are coming from Honolulu, take H-1
freeway ewa direction to the Waimalu Exit. After taking the Waimalu
Exit, immediately get into the left lane and prepare to stop at the
traffic light. Take another left at the stop light, getting onto
Moanalua Rd. (heading Diamondhead). Go to the 2nd traffic light,
Kaahele St., and take a left (mauka). continue up Kaahele St. for quite
a distance up the hill, until you reach the stop sign at Naalii Street.
The neighborhood park is on the left and there is plenty of parking on
Kaahele St.

Based on the overall beauty and Gordon's availability, we are taking advantage of the clear trail and running Halawa Ridge Trail. If you have never done this trail, get out there Saturday.

Here's the plan: Halawa Ridge Trail to the Summit

Meeting time: 5:50 am

Starting time: 6:00 am

Meeting place: The end of Iwaena Street in the back of Halawa Valley. Parking is along the road and on a Saturday is not a problem.

Training: We will go under H-3 and climb up to the
ridge on the Diamond Head side of H-3. The trail follows the ridge all
the way back to the Pali cliff's edge overlooking the Kaneohe side of
the H-3 tunnels.

Distance: 7 - 8 miles one-way. Round trip is 14-16 miles.

Time: Plan 5 - 6-1/2 hours roundtrip (I heard some fast runners did it in around 4 hours last week.)

What to bring: Lots of water (72 oz. minimum),
enough for the time on the trail and something to eat at the summit and
along the way. You might consider carrying extra water and dropping some
along the way since it is an out and back. Sunscreen.The trail was
maintained recently by the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, however
near the summit there are Uluhe fern and it can scratch ankles. Camera,
great shots from the summit if it is clear.

Paul provided his report, which is an accurate but most modest account of the events of the Friday night run. This run was Paul's. He did one hell of job looking after everyone and ensuring that the water drops were cafe stops. I just want to add a bit of a story as it was a lot of fun out there.....

We got started a bit late as two groups of runners sat around waiting for each other. Paul, Larry and I at the top of Triangle Park, and Bill, Rob and Greg at the bottom. After we had straighted that out we all headed for the Nature Center Trail Head.

The trip up Hog's Back was the typical warm up session and there was a lot of good conversation and chatter. It was still light, it was a beautiful evening, and we all let that settle in. At the top the typical thing happened, After leading the group up with Bill, I got about 20 paces and realized the pace was radically fast for me at this point in a run. I moved off the trail, damn near tripping Bill and sending him off toward the bottom of Moleka Valley but just managed to get dirty and land on my ass. I let the group go ahead. I caught them on Twisters, came close to catching them on the Long Easies up, and then they were gone again down toward Center Trail. Chasing was just not in me. We had a long way to go, a lot of hard trail, and my muscles, let alone tendons, were as cold as a frozen pork shoulder. My pace slowed, I muttered to myself a lot, and thought about just bailing and heading down Center trail. It was a typical long race start for me when my tight body has wisdom on its side, and there is still a thin veneer of sanity resisting the madness of the long run.

But the Good Shepard was waiting for me, ready to herd me back into the flock. Paul was looking down at me from up Mango's when I came around the Bend and over the stream. With Paul standing up there, Three Ways became a one way, and that was the way Paul was going. I muttered something about not chasing that group until I was warmed up and he readily agreed with me.

There were lots of things to choose from this past weekend. Paul has already posted a great report on the Friday night run. Thanks Paul. Sounds like you had a fun evening out there. Sure sounds like it was dry! And what is this I hear about Starbucks?? Check out all the comments related to this run.

Saturday's group sounds like they had a blast on the Halawa Ridge Trail. I received this from Gordon:"Our small group of runners had a awesome time on Sat.. The weather and views were perfect. We had Cheryl , Pete M., Steve. , Jim , Larry and Josef show up. The latter four did an awesome job by doing about a four hour out and back. Terrific! The trail is still in excellent condition. I think Josef took a lot of pics he will post. I didn't make it all the way to the summit because I elected to do some trail clearing along the way but plan to do another trip there to get some pics of a rare lehua blossom at the summit. Hope we can do it again and have more runners/hikers share the experience. Oh , Larry and I did the nite HURT loop Friday also and Larry looked strong on Sat. despite sleep deprivation........Aloha.....Gordon..."

Cheryl had this to say: It was an amazing day out there...and even better with some old friends join us.We took it easy coming back,,,I did not want to get off the trail,,,it's just so special up there....I am so grateful to all the folks who worked so hard to trim that trail.Hopefully we can do this again real soon!!

Finally, you will probably be able to read more at Don's blog, www.missionpossible-badwater.com site, however I heard this from Cheryl: "I went out on the road about 6pm, and found the boys coming thru Waimanalo. I gave them some chips, coffee,,,and red bull,,,,they looked FANTASTIC!!!"

Wow, hard can 50+ miles be when you get aid like that!!! Just kidding guys.

Oh, one last thing, I received this from Brian Wilson. He wanted everyone to know."Just wanted to let you and all my HURT friends know that my wife Diane and I are expecting a new trail runner some time in November. See you out there in the hills." Brian Wilson

With a beautiful night, a group a 6 brave souls ventured out to run a night HURT loop. Of the 6, there were 3 newbies and 3 experienced guides. Bill, Mike and myself were the ones that knew the trail, so off we went with our faithful newbies in tow. Rob, Greg and Larry were eager to see the course - too bad it was night.

Once the group found Pauoa Flats, they realized Kansas was gone and the HURT was on. We were almost at Paradise Park for refueling thanks to a good stash by Bill, when out of nowhere this crazy runner appeared. Gordon looked hungry and we stepped aside to let him pass. Now we were 7.

After Paradise, we pushed up the 14 switchbacks on our way to Nuuanu. Bill and I pulled up the rear catching Greg. I pushed ahead meeting up with a powerful Rob and Mike enjoying the night air. But where was Larry and Gordon? I had to find out. So I pushed the heart rate up, and ran down into Nuuanu where I found these crazed runners enjoying a stroll in the woods.

We stopped at the Sibley Cafe for some snacks, and waited for the gang to reunite. Gordon said something about running on Saturday morning and left us. Mike and Rob thought they could catch Gordon and headed back. Bill and Larry wanted some of the racing action and took off leaving Greg and myself to survive in jungle.

Luckily, I knew a shortcut and we made it back to the car shortly after the gang did. Now there are 3 less Newbies! Thanks for the great stash and excellent team work in leading the clients back to their cars. I'll divide the guide payment to Mike and Bill later.

This Saturday we have another secret training ground of Gordon Lau's to explore. If you have never run this trail, I highly recommend it.

Here's the plan: Halawa Ridge Trail to the Summit

Meeting time: 5:50 am

Starting time: 6:00 am

Meeting place: The end of Iwaena Street in the back of Halawa Valley. Parking is along the road and on a Saturday is not a problem.

Training: We will go under H-3 and climb up to the ridge on the Diamond Head side of H-3. The trail follows the ridge all the way back to the Pali cliff's edge overlooking the Kaneohe side of the H-3 tunnels.

Distance: 7 - 8 miles one-way. Round trip is 14-16 miles.

Time: Plan 5 - 6-1/2 hours roundtrip

What to bring: Lots of water (72 oz. minimum), enough for the time on the trail and something to eat at the summit and along the way. You might consider carry water extra and dropping some along the way since it is an out and back. Sunscreen.The trail was maintained recently by the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, however near the summit there are Uluhe fern and it can scratch ankles. Camera, great shots from the summit if it is clear.

It's all good training!

Aloha, Bob

P.S. If your looking for some road training, Badwater Don has a 50+ miler planned. Contact him, as I am sure he'd welcome the company for any part of it.

I am planning a night loop starting at NC on 4/20 (Fri) leaving around 5:30PM. There are three of us now. If you are interested, please reply so we can drop more water. Planned loop time is 6 hours rain or more rain! We are taking out a HURT newbie for his first loop (and at night)!!

Today's Top of Tantalus race was fast! We had 78 runners, a new course record, and lots of fun. The weather was great and the trails were in good running condition. Special thanks goes out to race directors, Rex Vlcek and Kat Tagaca for putting on a cool race and kick-off to the 2007 Trail Series.

The next trail series race is scheduled for May 12, Run with a View. Put it on your calendar and get ready for more fun out on the trails!

Click here to view the results of today's race. The photo's will be up sometime early this next week.

This Saturday is the first H.U.R.T. Trail Series race, the 7-mile, Top of Tantalus. The race starts at 7:00 a.m. at Puu Ualakaa Park.

If you are interested in running this race, just show up at least 30 minutes prior to the start and pay $10. Since it is the first race of the season, you can also pay for $50 for the entire series.

One important note: The short way to the park remains closed.

The road is closed on the short way to Puu Ualakaa Park.
This is due to the mudslides during the heavy rains of 2006 and
continuing road work.

Please go the other way (the long way) to get to the park. It's 7.5
miles vs. 2.5 miles. Turn at the pumping station (as if you were going to the Nature Center) and go left up and
around Tantalus. This means additional time so plan accordingly so you don't get there late.

Rex Vlcek and Kat Tagaca are race directors and if you have any questions, feel free to contact them. Their contact info is listed on the HURT Trail Series schedule. Click the link (upper left side) under HURT HOT TOPICS!